Saint Seiya: Future Warriors
by lotus-genie
Summary: 243 years after Athena, Seiya, and the Bronze Saints fought Hades, a new mythology is beginning. Once again, the Pegasus Saint is reincarnated to protect Athena and gets caught in the action...


_Author's note: I do not own Saint Seiya. It belongs to Masami Kurumada. I do own the original characters and concepts featured in the story, so if you want to use them, please ask me._

_This story takes place 243 years after the classic Saint Seiya stroyline. All the Saints and Gods have oce again reincarnated to do battle. However, with this menagerie of eccentricities, can the side of Justice prevail?_

* * *

In times of myth, the Goddess Athena was protected by an army of young men. Because Athena hated weapons, these young men defended her with nothing but their own bodies. To reward their loyalty, Athena gave to them armors, based on the 88 constellations, called "cloths." It was said that when the Earth was plunged into times of great chaos, these warriors, known as "Saints," would appear. Their fists could rend the sky; their feet could split the Earth. They were undefeatable fighters of justice. Now, in the year 2229, a new evil has arrived to threaten the Earth. Once again, the Saints shall appear...

Dr. Athena's fingers g"lided over the odd gadgets. As of now, it was but a mass of gears, but to Athena, it was much more. With a little bit more work, she could shape it into an anti-gravity disk, a matter rearranger, or even a new-fangled soda machine. A whirling mass of ideas ran through her head as she worked on her newest invention. She had already been working on it for three days, ignoring both food and sleep. As of now, the only things sustaining her were coffee and curry bread.

"Lady Athena…" A voice called from outside of Athena's laboratory. The only reply that Athena gave was silence.

"Let's see…connect this circuit here…reroute this one here…" Athena muttered to herself as she worked on her device. Right now, this was what she needed to concentrate on.

"Lady Athena, it is time for your party…Don't you want to come out and meet your friends?"

Athena continued to ignore the knocking on her laboratory door. She was long since passed the time when she was a lonely little girl, craving friendship or at least company. Now, her gadgets were all that she needed. As long as she could tinker with the various pieces of machinery, she would never feel lonely or bored.

"Your father invited special guests just for you, Lady Athena. It involves the promise from five years ago…" The knocking on Athena's laboratory door got louder. "Please, Lady Athena, don't you remember that promise?"

Athena's wrench dropped from her hands as her mind was filled with memories of the scenes from seven years ago. Even now, she could see and hear the experiences from that memorable vacation…

"I'm coming!" Athena called, making her way to what she thought was her laboratory door. She threw in open and stepped into what she thought was the corridor. Unfortunately, it was her closet door instead. As the door locked behind her, she realized that she was in trouble yet again. She made a mental note to remember which door was which the next time around.

* * *

Takeru shifted the cloth box on his shoulders. Although he had been trained to carry greater weights, he was still unused to carrying a cloth in its cloth box. Until now, he had only been Takeru the trainee—even touching a cloth box had been a thing of his wildest dreams. However, now he was carrying a cloth—his cloth. It had been hard work to get it—he still remembered the cruel training and the grueling fights that he had to endure. None of it mattered how, however. What did matter was that he was a Saint, to be clearer, the Saint of Pegasus. Even though he could not remember most of the mythology or history behind the cloth, He was no longer simply Takeru or Take-kun—he was Pegasus Takeru, Saint of Athena.

Takeru fingered the paper that he held in his hand, which carried a different kind of weight. It had invited him here, calling upon a promise that he had long since forgot. When he had first received it, his first instinct was to crush it and wonder what sort of sick joke was being played on him. It had been his master who had taken up the letter before he had crushed it into the ground. It was also his master who had read the letter out loud, within the earshot of the other trainees, to his chagrin. After she was done with her daily routine of humiliating him, she had taken him aside and told him that he should follow the directions on the paper and go. According to her, it was the duty of a Saint to fulfill promises, no matter how rashly they were made, or how much they had been forgotten. She had also stated that even if it was trap, then he should go to scope out the identity and motives of the enemy. Therefore, because of her advice, he was standing in the unfamiliar porch of an unfamiliar mansion, ringing the unfamiliar doorbell.

"Hello, what might you be here for, dear sir?" An attractive maid opened the door and greeted Takeru.

"Uh…I-I'm…uh…this!" Takeru stuttered, holding up the piece of paper that he had been carrying. This was the first time he had spoken to someone other than a Saint or his fellow trainees, so he was understandably nervous. In addition, there was something oddly unnerving about the maid that made his stomach feel like tying into a knot. It was nothing suspicious, just unnerving.

"Oh, you must be one of the special guests then." The maid reached out to take Taekru's hand. "I'll lead you to where you're supposed to go."

As the maid's hand touched Takeru's, the Pegasus Saint recoiled. Before Takeru knew what he was doing, instinct had taken over. He quickly pulled his hand back and then grabbed the maid's arm, twisting it painfully behind her. He only snapped back to reality when he heard the maid's screams. As quickly as he had seized her arm, he released her.

"I-I'm sorry!" Takeru cried, stumbling back. "I-I'm used to b-being attacked, so…"

"I understand." The maid winced while shaking her arm to ascertain that it was not damaged. "I will simply walk ahead and you can follow me closely."

Takeru stared at the maid in mild surprise. If it had been any normal person, or maybe even a Saint, his attack should have at least dislocated that person's arm. However, the maid seemed to be completely unharmed. "Uh…yeah…I guess."

"Come this way then." The maid led Takeru into the living room.

Takeru walked behind the maid, wary of his surroundings. Suddenly, he seemed to sense an unfamiliar cosmo. He quickly took up a defensive pose, ready to counter any attack. However, after a few seconds, the mysterious cosmo seemed to disappear.

"Hello, who are you?"

Takeru shook his head slowly. He could swear that he heard something, yet it was seemed to be illusory. Finally, he decided to just ignore it.

"Another of the special guests has already arrived. I was just showing him around when you came." The maid stated.

"Really?" Takeru looked around, but he could not see anyone.

"Yes, really." A voice called from behind Takeru. Takeru turned around and jumped back in surprise as he saw another man behind him. "Any _real _Saint of Athena would have sensed that."

"Who are you?" Takeru snapped.

"Bronze Saint of Cygnus, Yulian. Who are you?" The taller boy replied. The cloth that he was wearing confirmed his statement.

"I-I'm T-Takeru…P-Pegasus Takeru." Takeru mentally kicked himself for feeling intimidated by the other boy. It was not because of Yulian's great height and muscles, or his white hair and skin that seemed to melt into his bluish-white cloth, but the sheer cold of his cosmo. Up until now, Takeru had never seen an ice saint before. It was shocking that the temperature seemed to drop around Yulian.

"I see….Why are you here?" Yulian held up a slip of paper. "Could it possibly be this?"

"Yes." Takeru held up his paper, which looked exactly like Yulian's. "My master persuaded me to come here. She said that as a Saint of Athena, I am supposed keep promises, even if they are forgotten over time."

"I'm here because my master said…" Yulian smirked. "You know what? Never mind. I'm not telling you what my master said. This place could be crawling with enemies, and I don't know where you got that cloth from…"

"Don't get cocky!" Takeru growled. Yulian had implied that he had acquired the cloth through means other than acquiring it fairly, like a Saint. It was infuriating, to say the least. "You wanna fight?"

"Oh, so now you hear what I say?" Yulian also assumed a battle stance. "You missed my last three greetings!"

"Well, that may be because you're totally forgettable!" Takeru made a face at Yulian. "It's not my fault that your hair and cloth both blend right into the background! I bet you're even more invisible in whatever snowman town you come from!"

"What did you say?" Yulian hissed. The temperature suddenly dropped many more degrees as a cold cosmo emitted from Yulian.

"Would you like me to repeat it?" Takeru taunted. "It's not my fault that your hair and cloth both blend right into the background!"

"You're looking for a fight." Yulian stated, staring at Takeru.

"Bring it on!"

"Please stop fighting." The maid ordered, stepping in between the two Saints with no fear of their flaring cosmos. "Fighting is not to be done inside this house; please go into the yard for such matters. If you are truly both 'Athena's Saints' as you say, you should not waste time or energy fighting against your own comrades! Also, if you distrust me, I could go into the other room and allow you to converse amongst yourselves."

The two Bronze Saints stared at each other. While they disliked each other with a passion, what the maid had said was true. It was important to stick with one's allies in unfamiliar terrain. Their fight could wait for a better time.

"Would you like me to leave so you could continue your conversation?" The maid suggested.

"No thanks." Yulian muttered. "We'll settle everything later."

"I'll be looking forward to that." Takeru gave Yulian the best angry glare that he could muster.

The two Saints followed the maid through the maze of corridors until they reached a large room with a wide window looking out into a large, neatly groomed garden. The two Saints were temporarily stunned into silence by the lavishness of the surroundings. Takeru involuntarily let out a whistle as he looked around the room.

"This is the dining hall. Please wait here until the other guests arrive." The maid pulled two chairs out from the table. "Please be seated, sirs."

For the second time that day, Takeru felt an unfamiliar cosmo. However, this one was laced with killing intent. He quickly turned to dodge the attack and prepare to fire off his Pegasus Meteor Fist, but found that his attacker had grabbed his arm.

"Your reflexes haven't slowed, Take-kun." The figure grabbing Takeru's arm grinned. "However, you still can't catch up the great Hayate!"

"Oh give it a break, Haya-kun." Takeru pulled away from Hayate, mildly annoyed. Even after seven years, Takeru still considered the other boy's actions obnoxious and prideful. "Do you see this cloth box? It's Pegasus Takeru now!"

"And do you see this cloth box?" Hayate gestured at a box in a chair behind him. "It's Unicorn Hayate now!"

"You're kidding me." Takeru snickered. "You made it as a Saint too? Well, I guess miracles do happen. What, did your opponent trip over his shoelaces and knock himself out? You couldn't have gotten past the test if he didn't."

"Shut up. You think you're the only one strong enough to earn a cloth? You're every last bit as obnoxious, stupid, and arrogant as ever." Hayate snorted.

"Shouldn't I be the one saying that?" Takeru sighed. "You're a hypocrite, Hayate—always picking out other people's problems and never noticing your own."

"Shouldn't I be the one saying that, Take-kun?"

"Shut up."

"You shut up."

"You shut up."

"You shut up times a hundred."

"You shut up times a million."

"You shut up to the seventh sense."

"You shut up to the next dimension."

"You both shut up before my headache gets so bad that I feel inclined to share it with the two of you." Yulian calmly stated to Hayate and Takeru.

"Who's this big thug?" Hayate looked over toward Yulian. "Didn't notice him until now."

"He's just that forgettable." Takeru replied. "I know that he's Cygnus, but I didn't catch his name."

"It's Yulian—Y-U-L-I-A-N. It's not that hard." Yulian sighed.

"I'm Unicorn Hayate, strongest of the Bronze Saints." Hayate announced. "I see you've already met Pegasus. He used to be my lackey."

"No, Hayate—you used to follow me around like goldfish feces, clamoring for me to fight you. You'd do it until I got impatient and bashed your face in." Takeru retorted.

"I don't remember that!" Hayate snapped. "Now you're just making stuff up!"

"Or, you've got selective memory loss. I must have hit you a little too hard in the head when we were kids." Takeru grinned.

"Yeah right. You only wish you could ever land a punch on me." Hayate snorted. "So, did you two end up getting invited here for some party too?"

"Sure did." Takeru held up his invitation. "Do you know what this is talking about?"

"Hell no. I'm just as confused as you are." Hayate replied.

"I expected as much. You never did have any friends, so no one in their right mind would invite you to a party."

"Shut up." Hayate replied. "Don't you find this suspicious? So far, we're the only three people here, but we're all Saints."

"Yeah…it really is kinda fishy if you think about it. Why would someone throw a party…and invite only Saints of Athena? Furthermore, how did they track down our training places to send us these invitations?" Takeru wondered.

"This could all be a trap." Yulian suggested. "Haven't either of you felt uneasy or nervous when you stepped in here?"

"This is our first time out of Sanctuary in seven years. Of course we'd be nervous." Hayate piped up.

"No, I mean beyond regular nervousness. There is something odd about this house: something unnatural." Yulian explained. "It's almost as if there is a heavy pressure around us, and yet the heavy pressure seems nonexistent."

"So you mean this place is exactly like you? Good to see that you found a place where you can fit in." Takeru joked.

"Pegasus, kindly cease your verbal diarrhea before I give you a serious case of constipation." Yulian requested without even turning to face the Pegasus Saint. "Anyway, I find this place suspicious, so I would advise both of you to be careful."

"We should stay just to get an idea of what's going on." Takeru suggested. "Some traps simply need to be sprung! Besides, what's the worst that can happen? We're Saints—we can take out our enemies without breaking a sweat! If this is a trap, we'll play the advance guard and show them why you don't mess with Athena's forces!"

"Cocky, aren't you." Hayate smirked. "You'll probably get slaughtered out there with that attitude."

"And you won't?"

"Hell no—I can actually back up what I brag about!"

"I'd like to see you do that! Ever since we were kids, you were just a pair of lips!"

"And you were just ball of ego!"

"Well, you were a butt-head!" Takeru fired off one last remark before turning to Yulian. "Who do you think would get slaughtered first?"

"Both of you." Yulian replied coldly.

"I still say you two should be careful. I can afford to be a little reckless, but you guys should save your strength to report back to Sanctuary if we stumble on something big." Hayate declared.

Takeru slammed both hands on the table. "Hayate, shut up! We're comrades, whether we like it or not! Comrades should trust and support each other! Stop doubting us! If we're going to fight, we're going to fight together! We can save whatever personal conflicts we have for a safer time. Right now, we're going to have to believe in each other! We are all Saints—we cannot run away or abandon a friend. Even though I hate to say this, I trust both of you two to watch my back! I'm asking for both of you to trust me to do the same. No matter what, we will defeat whatever sinister forces at work here and get out of here—together!"

"Nice moral speech, Pegasus." Yulian commented.

"That was not a moral speech! That was just what I felt like saying on the spur of the moment!" Takeru snapped back angrily.

"Well, then you feel like giving speeches on the spur of the moment." Yulian corrected himself.

Before Takeru could say anything, he was interrupted by the maid's entrance. Behind her, there stood two more unfamiliar people. From the cloth boxes they carried, it appeared that they were Saints as well.

"Take-chan!" One of the figures, squealed, tackling Takeru in a massive hug before he could put up any resistance. "Remember me, Take-chan? It's me! I'm Callisto! We played together when we were kids, but then my parents had to move. I'm so glad to see you again!"

"Wow, Pegasus, after all that bragging, you get taken down…by a girl." Hayate commented. However, Takeru paid no attention to him.

"C-Calli-chan? What are you doing here?" Takeru exclaimed in surprise. For him, this day was filled with one shock after another. "A-and you've got a cloth box! Don't tell me—you've become a Saint too?"

"Yeah! After I moved, I tried to call you, but your parents said you had gone to become a Saint. Sometime after that, this mysterious man came around and asked me if I wanted to become a Saint for Athena, and since I wanted to see you again, I said yes!" Callisto babbled. "I've grown up, Take-chan! You've grown up too!"

"Hey, Callisto, remember me?" Hayate stepped up.

"Nope—not at all. Who were you again?" Callisto wondered.

"It's me…Hayate." Hayate replied, visibly deflated. "I was Takeru's rival, remember?"

"Oh yeah, that kid who always followed Take-chan around to get beaten into the ground. I remember you now!" Callisto chirped.

"Thanks." Hayate muttered.

"So, Calli-chan…" Takeru took a deep breath, not sure how to greet a childhood friend that he had not seen in years. "W-what cloth did you get?"

"Callisto-sempai got the Bear Bronze Cloth." The other figure in the doorway chimed up.

"Ah! Take-chan, let me introduce you!" Callisto jumped off Takeru to grab the tall Native American boy who had spoken and drag him toward the other Saints. "This is Indus Kele. Kele isn't his Saint name, though—it's his original one. Kele, this is Pegasus Takeru, my friend. I met Kele on the flight over here. We decided to stick together since we both trained in America."

"I-I don't really feel worthy of that name…so I'm going to stick with my original name until I've become a Saint who can honor the name that my master passed down to me!" Kele explained. "Anyway, it's great to meet you, Takeru-sempai!"

"Indus, huh?" Takeru glanced at Kele. "Really fits you, seeing how you're Indian and everything. Uh…no offense. Just commenting, that's all…"

"Don't worry, Takeru-sempai!" Kele replied. "That's what everyone says. I'm pretty alright with it."

"Thanks." Takeru sighed in relief. "How old are you?"

"I just turned fourteen, sempai."

"Really?" Takeru was taken aback. "Well, you're the tallest and most muscular fourteen-year-old I've ever met. You're also the one with the longest hair. Get a haircut sometime before we start mistaking you for a really buff chick."

"I've never really felt the need to cut it…" Kele grinned sheepishly as he ran a hand through his long hair. "I've always been too busy training."

"Well, even if you don't look like a kid, you sound like one." Yulian commented. "Your voice is shriller than even Pegasus' voice."

"M-my voice isn't that shrill, is it?" Kele turned to Callisto. "Callisto-sempai, is my voice shrill?"

"Not for your age, it isn't." Calisto comforted Kele. "Who are these other people, Take-chan?"

"Oh, these stooges?" Takeru pointed toward Yulian and Hayate. "As you already know, that obnoxious piece of goldfish feces is Hayate, the Unicorn Saint, and that massive chunk over there is…well, I forgot his name, but he's the Cygnus Saint."

"My name is Yulian." Yulian growled. "Why can you never seem to remember my name?"

"Maybe I don't want to." Takeru muttered. "Anyway, those two aren't anyone important, so don't pay any attention to them."

Yulian slapped Takeru on the back of the head. "Ignore him. He's been acting like this all day."

"Take-chan hasn't changed at all." Callisto smiled sweetly. "I'm glad."

"You…haven't changed that much in the personality department either." Takeru replied. "It's kind of nice in your case. However, I definitely can't say the same thing about Hayate."

"So, Callisto, you two probably got these things too, right?" Hayate held out his invitation. "Something about attending this party because we promised to meet the host when we were kids?"

"Yeah, I did. I don't really buy it, but I just want to know what's going on." Callisto held out her own invitation. "What do you guys think?"

"It could be a trap, but we are still not sure." Yulian stated. "At the moment, there are several puzzling factors. First, we were all invited here, with invitations sent to our training places, although those were supposed to have been secret. Second, even if this was a trap, this place seems to be too elaborate to be intended only to ambush some enemy fighters. Third, although a case could be made that this mansion was created to throw us off-guard, we are but Bronze saints—not worth the effort needed to create this place."

"Who cares whether or not we're worth the effort? I say we just go up and ask and if we don't get a straight answer, then we start bashing faces in." Takeru cracked his knuckles.

"Down, Pegasus. We still do not know whether or not this is a trap. To ask them directly would be too reckless." Yulian stated.

"Well, there goes your great idea." Hayate commented. "Sometimes I wonder what you use your brain for, since it obviously can't be to think."

"At least I use it for something. Have you ever used your brain before, Hayate?" Takeru retorted.

"Does no one find it odd that the host's name is 'Athena'?" Callisto frowned. "Something just seems odd about that."

"Well, she's probably a rich brat. These days, rich people are naming their kids all sort of weird things. Athena is probably a plainer name than some of the others out there." Yulian explained.

"Like this guy's name?" Hayate pointed at Kele. Yulian and Callisto slapped the Unicorn Saint on the head in reply.

"Well, either way, we're all here. Maybe we should try to learn something about each other?" Callisto quickly changed the subject. "If we're trying to trust each other, we should know about each other. You can go first, Take-kun."

"Well, you already know me." Takeru stated.

"Yeah, but the rest of these guys don't. Go ahead and tell them something about yourself."

"I'm looking forward to learning about everyone, Sempai!" Kele exclaimed.

"Okay, okay. I'm Pegasus Takeru and I'm from Japan. I grew up in a pretty normal family, I guess. I've got both parents, a big sister, and a little brother, all still alive. I used to play with Callisto when we were kids. My birthday is November 30th, which makes me a Sagittarius. I became a Saint so I could grow strong and protect innocent people!" Takeru took a deep breath. He had never properly introduced himself to anyone before, so he had just blurted out everything he could think of in his spiel, including his birth date "There, I'm done. Anything else I need to say?"

"You're a lucky bastard." Hayate growled. "I'm Unicorn Hayate, and I'm also from Japan. My parents died when I was pretty young, so I grew up in an orphanage. I met Takeru because his mother used to help out a lot over at the orphanage. I wanted to become a Saint because I really had nowhere else to go—no one wanted to adopt me because I was a troublemaker. My birthday is October 26th, and I'm a Scorpio."

"I'll go next." Callisto volunteered. "My name is Callisto, and I'm the Bear Saint. Like Take-chan said, we used to play together when we were kids. I moved here from Italy, and later moved back because of my father's job. My parents are still alive and I'm a single child. My birthday is April 16th, which makes me an Aries. I became a Saint to look for Take-chan!" Callisto hugged Takeru's arm. "And it worked!"

"Your turn." Takeru glanced at Kele. "What's your story?"

"I…I'm Indus Kele…" Kele replied nervously. "I use my human name because I don't consider myself worthy of my Saint name yet…. I lived in America with my dad…I never knew my mom. In fact I'm not sure Dad ever got married, so I might be adopted, but…it's not important. I was born on May 9th, so I'm a Taurus….My reason for becoming a Saint is…my reason is…"

"Well, go on." Takeru encouraged his fellow Saint.

"It…it's sort of embarrassing…" Kele muttered. "I'm sorry, Sempai, but…"

"It's okay. You don't have to do it." Callisto gave Takeru a quick glare.

"Yeah, he probably lost a bet or something." Takeru snickered. "Maybe he wet his pants and couldn't stand the teasing from his friends?"

"Takeru!" Callisto hissed.

"It's not like that, Sempai!" Kele protested. "I…I really admired another boy. He…got recruited to be a Saint, so I wanted to become one too…. I…I chased down the scout and persuaded him to recruit me too…. At the time, he said that even though I had very little cosmo compared to a lot of the other kids he found, I still had some potential…."

"So you were chasing after a crush the entire time. Good to know." Takeru commented. Seconds later, both Yulian and Callisto slapped him in the back of the head. "Ow!"

"So, I think we're all done with introductions now." Callisto declared. "I wonder if we were the only ones invited here."

"Hey, I haven't gone yet!" Yulian protested.

"Oops, didn't notice you. Sorry." Callisto apologized nervously.

Yulian muttered something darkly before starting on his introduction. "My name is Yulian and I'm the Cygnus Saint. I was originally from Russia before becoming a Saint. I don't really feel like talking about my father, but he wasn't around long enough to raise me. My mother is alive, but she's always busy with work—she never did have time for me. I was born an Aquarius, on February 5th. My reason for becoming a Saint was to finally get some attention, but it seems that it didn't work."

"You were forgettable even as a kid? Guess we should have expected that." Takeru commented, earning a slap to the back of the head from Yulian. "Seriously, stop that!"

"Pegasus, if you desire for us to 'stop that,' then please refrain from those rude comments." Yulian stated calmly.

"F-forgive me for my interruption, but is this the right place? Please clarify it for me…" A young girl with a sliver colored mask covering her face peered into the room.

"Here comes the next lamb to the slaughter." Yulian commented.

"I-I'm sorry if I inconvenienced you!" The girl pulled her head back.

"It's okay! Yulian-san here was just joking!" Callisto called. "We're all Saints of Athena here, so I'd say that this is the right place!"

"R-really? Thank you for the clarification!" The young girl stepped into the room and bowed. "I am happy to be meeting all of you for the first time. My name is Andromeda Lucia and I have been invited here. I hope that I have not interrupted anything."

"Nope. We were just following up our introductions. Why don't you sit down and tell us a little about yourself? It's one way to pass the time." Callisto suggested.

"I-I hope I will not bore you…" Lucia seated herself in a chair and set down her cloth. "As I have stated in my introduction, my name is Andromeda Lucia. I was originally from Japan, but I currently reside upon Andromeda Island as one of Lady Athena's Saints. I am an orphan, and even if I was not, I would have renounced my family after becoming a Saint. My birthday is on September 8th, and I am a Virgo. Is this enough?"

"Yeah, of course it is." Callisto smiled at Lucia. "No need to be so polite or stiff. We're all around your age and level around here."

"I-I was taught to always be polite by a person that I once respected…" Lucia replied nervously.

"There's nothing wrong with being polite, Lucia-sempai." Kele piped up.

"Forgive me for correcting you, but if anyone should be addressing anyone else as 'sempai' it should be me." Lucia interjected. "I am only thirteen, and Sempai is fourteen."

"In terms of power and experience, however, you are my senior." Kele objected. "It is only right that I call you 'sempai,' Lucia-sempai."

"What is this, some sort of etiquette video?" Hayate grumbled. Callisto rolled her eyes and slapped him on the back of the head. "Is this some sort of habit?"

"I think it's nice that the kids just want to be polite. Please do not ridicule them." Callisto requested. Hayate shivered as he sensed her glare even beneath her mask.

"One more Saint has been added to this group. Again, it perplexes me." Yulian closed his eyes, deep in thought. "Why would they invite all of us here, if not for some ulterior motive? However, why would they allow us to meet each other and converse if they only meant to trap us?"

"Come on, thinking like that is no fun." Callisto protested. "I'd rather believe that we're at a party then waste time worrying about all that other stuff. Let's just have fun until we find out whether or not this is a trap."

"Callisto-sempai has a point." Kele agreed. "If we needlessly worry ourselves, it could distract us from what really matters. I suppose we have to wait until we have enough clues to put the pieces together."

"So…what do we do now?" Hayate sighed. "We're all here and still no sign of the host."

"Let's play games then! How about Shiratori?" Callisto suggested.

"Shiratori?" Yulian asked curiously.

"It's a Japanese word game." Lucia explained. "One of the players says a sentence, and the next person says a sentence that starts with the syllable that the previous sentence ended with. This is then repeated with all of the players until one runs out of things to say. I hope that made sense."

"Sounds irritating." Yulian snorted. "I don't have the time to waste on things like that."

"Then what do you waste time on?" Takeru asked. "Admiring your face in the mirror?"

"Does it even show up?" Hayate snickered. Callisto whacked him on the back of the head yet again. "For the last time, that hurts!"

A soft sniffing noise interrupted the Saints. As they looked around for the source of the noise, they found Lucia hunched over in her seat, looking dejected.

"Lucia-sempai, what's wrong?" Kele leaned over Lucia, concerned.

"M-my explanation sounded irritating…I'm so sorry!" Lucia cried apologetically.

"Of course…" Yulian received a slap to the back of his head before he could finish. "…not."

"You see, Lucia-sempai? Yulian-sempai wasn't talking about your explanation—he was talking about the game itself."

"F-forgive me for that outburst…I caused everyone trouble…" Lucia sank even lower into her chair. "I jumped too quickly to conclusions. I shouldn't be embarrassing myself in public like this…"

"It's okay, Sempai. You meant well." Kele comforted Lucia. "I'm sure Yulian-sempai didn't mean to be so harsh either."

"If he did, I would teach him a lesson." Callisto chirped. "So, go ahead. Do whatever you want and don't worry about what Yulian says."

"Thank you, Miss Callisto." Lucia instantly straightened up.

"Alright, one more ally!" Takeru shot up from his seat and stepped on the table. "You can stop worrying now, Yulian! With this number of Saints, we can mow over however many opponents they throw at us! If we all pool our strength, we will be undefeatable! Everyone, I know you may not like each other, but for once, try to endure each other and lend each other your power! Of course, you can count Hayate out of the loop because he's a jackass, but otherwise, surpass the limits of rivalry or dislike and form an unstoppable force! We are all Athena's Saints, and we must work together to ensure that we do not bring shame to our goddess's name!"

"Here comes the speech again." Hayate sighed, leaning back in his chair. "Hasn't changed from the time that we were kids. And what was that part about me being a jackass?"

"Are you trying to deny that part?" Takeru smirked. "Everyone knows that a unicorn is just a horned ass."

"Take that back!" Hayate snapped. "Do you think it's funny to take potshots at someone's cloth? Even if that was a joke, it was a childish one that got old after the second time that it was used! For all you know, your cloth is a flying mule that shoots meteor shaped crap out of its misshapen ass."

"Now who's the childish one?" Takeru snorted.

"Please, stop fighting!" Lucia placed herself between Hayate and Takeru. "Mr. Takeru, I am glad that you were willing to give us a speech to remind us of our goals, but please do not criticize Mr. Hayate like this! Mr. Hayate, I understand that you might be righteously angered by Mr. Takeru's criticism, but please keep in mind that we are, as Mr. Takeru says, all Athena's Saints. We must not fight amongst ourselves!"

"Lucia-sempai is right!" Kele got up and stood next to Lucia. "We should be trying to work together, Takeru-sempai, you were the one who said we had to ignore the limits of rivalry, so please put your rivalry with Hayate-sempai aside!"

"Fine, but for your information, it was not a speech!" Takeru protested. "It was just what I felt like saying! Especially the part with Hayate being a jackass!"

"I told you the joke was getting stale already!" Hayate growled.

"Please, don't be hostile! Since you two have been separated from each other for many years, would it not be good to forget old grudges and start anew?" Lucia suggested. "You two are very similar, and I am sure that if you forgave and forgot all of your grudges, you could become very good friends."

"Are you kidding? We might be putting our argument on hold for the moment, but we are never gonna become friends." Takeru shot back. "Sorry, but for that to happen, Hayate would have to stop being a jack—goldfish feces, and that's not gonna happed anytime soon."

"Same here. Tell him to stop being a mule and I might tolerate him." Hayate spat out.

"I-I'm sorry for misconstruing your relationship! I hope I have not offended anybody!" Lucia bowed in apology.

"N-no! We're perfectly fine! Just don't cry again!" Takeru and Hayate panicked.

"Lucia-sempai, I'm sure this is their version of friendship. Takeru-sempai and Hayate-sempai just like to argue with each other for fun." Kele comforted Lucia.

"All of you are giving me a headache. Please do not make it so that I have to give you severe cases of frostbite." Yulian hissed.

"Come on, Yulian, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em." Callisto patted Yulian on the back. "It's like Kele said—Hayate and Takeru argue for fun. You can't make people stop having their fun, so why don't you just join in their fun and throw some Russian curses around?"

"Fine, I will." Yulian climbed on top of his chair, cleared his throat, and began to yell various Russian obscenities. Kele winced at the words even though he did not understand their meaning while Lucia covered her ears.

"Hey, uh…wha' do tha' mean?" A voice piped up from the doorway.

The Saints all turned around and found another young man with a clothbox standing in the doorway with the maid. The maid was shaking her head slowly, a look of disapproval on her face. The newcomer was looking around curiously. He finally walked up next to Yulian and sniffed the taller Saint.

"What the hell are you doing?" Yulian whispered, leaning away from the other boy.

"Yer tall…and ya smell col'." The newcomer glared at Yulian. "Wha' were ya just sayin'?"

"N-nothing…" Yulian slowly climbed off the table.

"Bu' ya clearly said somethin'." The newcomer scratched his head. "Wha's yer name?"

"Yulian—Cygnus Yulian." Yulian replied.

"My name's Quincy. My star's a doggy!" The newcomer chirped.

"What constellation is it then?" Hayate wondered aloud. "There's three constellations that feature dogs. Is it Canis Major, Minor, or Venatici?"

"I don' really know." Quincy shrugged. "Can ya 'elp me a bit?"

"Let's see…" Hayate and Takeru peered at Quincy's cloth box.

"You idiot!" Hayate snapped after getting a good look at the box. "That's not a dog! That's a wolf! You're the wolf saint, dumbass."

"Oh. Was that it then?" Quincy blinked in surprise. "I thought it was a big doggy."

"Well, who cares if it's a wolf or a dog?" Takeru slapped Quincy on the back. "You're a Saint now! Welcome to the club!"

"Gee, what d' we do in dis club?" Quincy wondered. "Crafts? Sports? Stories?"

"That was just a saying." Takeru sighed. "I guess we sort of fight people in this club."

"Then I can't join, sorry." Quincy backed away from Takeru. "Sensei say ne'er get in fights 'less the other person hit first and it's in the parkin' lot."

"I'm not saying we go out and attack people. We're just supposed to fight for justice." Takeru explained.

"Is't in the parkin' lot?" Quincy still looked confused.

"I suppose it could be if you want it to be…"

"I'm no' suppose' to fight 'less it's in the parkin' lot."

"Don't worry. We'll be sure to find a good parking lot to fight in, Sempai!" Kele exclaimed.

"If we can not, then, I suppose we can leave fighting to the strong ones like Mr. Takeru or Mr. Hayate…." Lucia stated. "Not to say that you're weak, Mr. Quincy, but since you do not like fighting, you do not have to fight."

"Okey-dokey." Quincy chirped, planting himself in a chair. "D' we ge' food?"

"Come to think of it…we've only seen guests and no host." Yulian observed. "It still smells fishy to me…"

"Aw come on. Cheer up and enjoy the company. Even if we haven't seen the host yet, isn't it nice to get to know our fellow Saints?" Callisto replied.

"I'm certainly enjoying getting to know you guys, Sempai. I'm sure we'll all be fine." Kele stated, earning him a glare from Yulian.

"Let's hope that you can stay as naïve as you are until the end of the day without getting killed." Yulian replied coldly.

"Tell us a bit about yourself, Quincy." Callisto turned to her fellow Saint.

"I…uh…I kin roll my tongue." To demonstrate, Quincy stuck out his tongue and curled it into a perfect clover shape.

"That's…nice." Callisto was, for once, at a loss for what to say.

"An'…an' I like ta cook. Tha's all I kin say." Quincy shrugged. "Don' have many thin' tha' I kin do."

"Well, I suppose that's enough."

"What about your family? Do you not have any, Mr. Quincy?" Lucia asked. "No offense—I was not trying to imply that you were an orphan or tease you about it. I was simply attempting to voice a simple question."

"I 'ave a Ma an' a Pa. They're real lovin' people. My ma cries lots, though. I don' know why. She sen' me off ta becum a Saint cuz she always wanted ta cry 'round me." Quincy looked around, confused by the fact that all of the other Saints were now staring at him. "Wha?"

"I-I'm sorry…" Lucia muttered. "You…must feel horrible about that…"

"Feel 'orrible 'bout wha?" Quincy scratched his head. "I don' get it."

"Let's move on to another topic." Kele quickly suggested. "What sort of foods do you like to cook, Quicy-sempai?"

"I like pies!" Quincy replied. "An' cakes…an' soups…an' cookies…an' steaks…an' veggies…I guess I like ever'thin'."

"I give up." Hayate sighed. "This guy is an idiot."

"Don't underestimate idiots!" Quincy snapped, his voice unusually harsh. "Sorry, I hate bein' called idiot, so…"

"Don't worry. These guys were just kidding around." Callisto fixed the male Saints with a glare from underneath her mask. "They'll make sure not to do that anymore, right?"

"Of course!" Takeru and Hayate squeaked.

"Naw, it's 'kay." Quincy reassured Callisto. "I ain't too brigh', so I gets called an idiot lots. Can't understand much else o' wha' they call me. Still 'urts, though. Like a dog still 'urts if ya call it somethin' mean, e'en if they don' understand it."

"We'll make sure to not be mean." Callisto patted Quincy's head.

"But this guy is…I don't know how to put it." Hayate growled. "…Frustrating."

"How could you say that, Hayate? No matter how frustrating he is, he is still our fellow Saint! We should stand by him and support him! Don't worry, Quincy, no one will call you an idiot anymore—not on my watch! Anyone who hurts you will have to deal with me, Pegasus Takeru, as well!" Takeru announced.

"There he goes with the speeches again." Hayate rolled his eyes.

"Tone it down, Pegasus." Yulian muttered.

"This isn't a speech! This is just what I felt like saying at the spur of the moment!"

"Takeru-sempai only makes speeches because he has so much to say! He's got plenty of good points, and while he can be loud, I think he's right on most of what he says!" Kele exclaimed. "Takeru-sempai, I agree with what you say, 100%! Just please try to keep it shorter and quieter for Yulian-sempai!"

"Like you're anyone to talk." Yulian snapped. "You're just as loud as he is."

"My voice isn't that loud, is it?" Kele asked worriedly.

"Yes, yes it is."

"Takeru, please keep your volume down so that we won't go deaf. Kele, that goes for you as well." Callisto requested. "I understand that you're excited—just keep it down."

"I'll do my best!" Kele exclaimed. Seconds later, he realized his mistake and clapped his hands over his mouth. "Sorry…"

"It's alright. Just be a little quieter." Callisto stated.

Without any warning, the doorway suddenly exploded. A girl burst through the hole, kicking a boy approximately her age across the floor. Both were carrying cloth boxes, which indicated that they were Saints.

"P-please stop! I'll give you anything you want, so stop it already!" The boy whimpered, shielding his head with his arms.

"Why no fight back? Still call yourself Saint of Athena with such wimpy attitude, huh?" The girl yelled in a high-pitched voice with a Chinese accent, continuing to pound on him.

"I'll give you my cloth if you want! Just let me go!"

"No way! Must teach wimp lesson, yep."

"Please, please, please stop! I can't take any more!" The boy curled himself into a ball to avoid further attacks.

"Then give back cloth, yep! No deserve to wear it, nope!"

"I spent all my money coming here! The plane ride was expensive!"

"Stop it!" Takeru threw himself between the two new arrivals and grabbed the girl's fist. "You've already beaten him down."

"Are you alright?" Lucia and Kele helped the boy to his feet.

"Yeah…" The boy muttered, shivering.

"Why was she trying to hit you?" Takeru turned to the trembling boy.

"W-we arrived here at the same time….She took a look at me and said she wanted t-to test my cosmo, and before I could say a-anything, s-she…attacked me." The boy whimpered.

"What is your problem? If you want to test someone's cosmo…" Takeru stopped in the middle of his sentence, surprised at what he saw. Now that he was able to closely observe the girl's face, he realized that she was not wearing a mask. He instantly averted his eyes, as did all of the other boys except Quincy, who just stared at the girl, confused. Callisto and Lucia also turned away, slightly embarrassed.

"What?" The girl asked, wrenching her hand from his grasp.

"Uh…I can finish up whatever I was saying after you get decent!" Takeru squeaked. "Sorry, I didn't mean to look! I swear I didn't see anything…much!"

"Forgive me for staring at you for so long. I had no idea that you would be like this." Yulian stated, calmly closing his eyes.

"S-sorry for being so rude, Sempai." Kele whispered, his voice barely audible. He was blushing like a beet and covering his eyes with his hands. "W-we can wait as long as you like…"

"Yeah! We didn't see anything, so don't kill us!" Hayate cried.

"I didn't mean it, I didn't mean it!" The new boy screamed as he curled into a ball on one of the chairs.

"F-forgive me…" Lucia muttered, unwilling to even turn around.

"I'm sure this is all just an accident. We can talk it out later, so just put it on, okay?" Callisto turned around slowly, embarrassed at the other girl's bare face.

"Gee…I don' get it. Wha's wrong? Ain't like she's naked or nothing. She looks normal-like." Quincy scratched his head.

"Yep, what wrong? No am naked, nope."

"You…you don't have a mask." Takeru stated, still afraid to look at the girl. "W-we're waiting for you to put it on."

"Never had mask, nope." The girl replied, plopping herself down in a chair. "Never needed one."

"What?" Takeru exclaimed in surprise. "You never had a mask?"

"F-forgive me for asking, b-but did your master never…?" Lucia asked nervously.

"Master never saw need to make me wear mask, so never made me wear one, nope." The girl answered.

"Wha's so bad 'bout her mask? I think she look jus' fine." Quincy declared.

"Well, Quincy-kun, you see…us female Saints have to wear a mask at all times." Callisto explained. "In ancient times, Athena refused to take in females as Saints and had on male protectors. However, when girls continued asking to become Saints, Athena allowed them in her army on one condition—they must renounce their femininity by hiding their face behind a mask. Seeing a girl without her mask is worse than seeing her naked."

"I still don' get it…" Quincy muttered.

"No need to renounce being girl, nope. Should be guys renounce being boys, yep." The girl declared. "Everyone know girls better than boys at everything, yep!"

"I'll renounce anything, just don't kill me!" The new boy squeaked.

"Even if that is true, we renounce our status as women to devote ourselves to Athena. Therefore, we have our masks to indicate that we are equal to the men." Callisto argued.

"Girls better than men at fighting too, yep. Also, men too gossipy; can never keep secret, nope. Better have girls as protectors, yep." The other girl snapped back.

"Still, it was a rule since ancient times that Athena made. You have to renounce your femininity to become a Saint."

"Why do ya need ta stop bein' a girl? I can still see yer a girl." Quincy asked.

"Athena hates Amazons, a race of warrior women who serve Ares. Therefore, she wants to indicate that we female Saints are different from Amazons." Callisto explained to Quincy again. "Therefore, we all need our masks."

"Nope, I no need it. No need to stop being girl to be different from Amazon. People smart enough to tell, yep." The other girl replied. "Anyway, no am naked, so should be alright, yep."

"Arguing with you is giving me a headache, and headaches are not fun. Let's just end this. I suppose that since we're all friends here, there's no shame in showing your face." Callisto sighed.

"I-it still feels wrong to look…" Lucia whispered, not daring to look at the new girl face-to-face.

"Are you sure you won't get mad, Sempai?" Kele whispered, careful to not be too loud.

"Nope, so all of you turn around. Don't look as if I was naked, nope." The Chinese girl stated. Slowly, everyone except Lucia turned around to face her. As for Lucia, she was still looking at the ground while slumping in her chair."

"W-well, we've got that worked out…" Takeru nervously turned to face the new girl. "So…why exactly did you try to beat up somebody to test their cosmo?"

"Am Saint of Athena, so have strong cosmo, yep. Saw another Saint, so wanted to test cosmo and spar a bit, yep. Never knew was such a wimp, nope."

"You know now…" The new boy squeaked when he saw the girl glaring at him. "I'm sorry! Don't hit me!"

"So…what are your names?" Callisto asked. "It's great to see so many of my fellow Saints here."

"I'm Gawain…Hydra…Gawain." The new boy muttered. "I…I never wanted to get a cloth. My master forced me…and now I've spent all my money getting here, so I can't go anywhere else…"

"No needed plane to get here." The new girl stated.

"Then what did you use?" Yulian asked sarcastically.

"Swam…then ran." The girl replied.

"Woah!" Hayate and Takeru stared at the girl in amazement. "Really—all the way here?"

"Yep."

"I could never go that far…" Gawain muttered. "I just wanted to stay at home…"

"That must have been tiring. You know, plane tickets were included with your invitation." Callisto comforted her fellow Saint.

"Tickets? That what those papers were?" The girl wondered aloud. "Next time, take plane for sure!"

"How come you spent all your money getting here with those free tickets?" Takeru stared curiously at Gawain.

"I-I forgot about them…"

"Your name is pretty nice, Gawain." Callisto stated, changing the subject.

"Yes…I think it sounds like a warrior's name, Mr. Gawain." Lucia commented.

"M-my parents gave it to me…they wanted me to be brave. I don't like it very much, though…" Gawain replied. "I would rather have a normal name and live a normal, cowardly life."

"That's dishonorable, yep!" The Chinese girl shot up from her chair. "Will knock out teeth for that, yep!"

Before another fight could start, the Saints were interrupted by the sound of a man clearing his throat. When they turned to the doorway, they found a rather dignified man standing there, pushing up his glasses. The maid stood behind him, pushing a cart with a large cake.

"So, all of you have arrived. I guess it was really worth my money sending all those invitations, and it was worth my time and effort to come down from the space colonies for my daughter's birthday party." The man glanced at all of the Saints. "I see all of you have managed to become Saints as well. I congratulate you, as well as the mail service that was able to find you."

"Who are you and how do you know about Saints?" Takeru exclaimed.

"Please allow me to introduce my employer—Mr. Lucas Moore, CEO of Asimov Robotics Industries." The maid announced. "He will be your host this evening."

"As for how I know about you Saints, we will save that for another time." Moore stated, walking toward the table and sitting in a chair. "Right now, I have gathered all of you here for a purpose. You were once my daughter's childhood playmates, so I believed that you would be the best people for the job."

"Hold on, now you're stretching it!" Takeru protested. "I've never seen you or your daughter in my life! Even if this was a trick, it's a little too farfetched!"

"Even if you have forgotten, you were still her childhood friends…" Before Moore could continue, an explosion shook the house.

The Saints turned to the direction of the explosion. A door leading to the parlor, opened, revealing stairs to the basement while black smoke seeped into the dining hall. A girl wearing goggles stepped into the parlor, covered in grime as black as the smoke.

"Hey, old man, we're gonna need another boiler. I just blew the last one." The girl declared, turning to the cake. "Whoa, you got some cake too. Nice one, old man." She dug her dirty fingers into the cake, pulled out a chunk, and began eating.

"Athena, we have guests." Moore hissed coldly. "Please do your best to behave yourself in front of them."

"What? Guests?" Athena glanced around until she was able to see the Saints. "Uh...hello?"

"Hi…" Takeru greeted her, unsure of what to say or think.

"You look cute in overalls? Grime is the new black?" Hayate was just as clueless as Takeru, but he tried to compliment Athena the best he could.

"Let…let me change and get back to you on that…" Athena dropped the cake and scrambled up the stairs to her room.

"That was my daughter, Athena." Moore explained, staring at Athena's retreating shape. "As you can see, she is rather socially crippled. Since you are her childhood friends, she will be more likely to trust you. Befriend her again. Teach her the value of human contact. Make her…" Moore's glasses flashed dangerously. "…socially acceptable."

"How would we do that?" Takeru asked, still wary.

"You are Saints. If you survived your training, you must have used your heads. Find a way to get her to open up to you. I'll pay you if necessary." Moore reached for his checkbook. "How much?"

"I'm fine with doing this. I just need to see what everyone else thinks. So, what do you say?" Takeru asked his fellow Saints quietly.

"I say we do it." Yulian whispered back. "We've got nowhere else to go, so we might as well as stay here and investigate. Even if this really is a trap, we can smash his face in later. Besides, he's paying us."

"If you're gonna stay, then there's no way I, the great Hayate, would lose out to you! I'll be sure to beat you at everything, even befriending a girl!" Hayate hissed. "I'm not going to run away from something that you just accepted."

"I would like to stay here and help that poor girl." Callisto chirped. "Although we've forgotten about her, we can befriend her all over again. It's always better to have more friends. Also, since we arrived here, we should take some time to enjoy this place. If we went back to Sanctuary or wherever we came from, all we would be doing is sitting around waiting for missions. I'd rather be here, doing something that actually helps someone."

"I would like to help too. I fear that this girl is very lonely, and just as a personal opinion, I do not think anyone deserves to be lonely. The rest of you have no need to stay with me, but I, personally, would like to stay." Lucia suggested.

"I-I spent all my money getting here, so I can't go home or back to my training ground…" Gawain muttered. "I suppose I'll stay…"

"I'm always ready to help, Lucia-sempai!" Kele exclaimed, temporarily raising his voice. As soon as he realized that he had once again spoken too loudly, he clapped his hands over his mouth again. "Sorry about that…I personally would like to help Lucia-sempai befriend that girl. As Lucia-sempai said, she might be lonely, and no one deserves to be lonely."

"I wanna stay 'ere. They've go' cake." Quincy exclaimed, pulling out a piece of cake and chewing on it. "'Sides, that girl seems nice. I'd like ta be 'er friend. Maybe we shoul' do as 'er pa says an' help 'er."

"No really care whether stay or not. No know her anyway, nope." The Chinese girl shrugged. "Suppose stay because have nowhere else to go and want rest, yep."

"Okay, we'll take this job!" Takeru exclaimed. "I love the idea of a challenge, and I'm not about to chicken out on this one! Besides, everyone's agreeing with me! Even if you're lying to get us in a trap, we can just come back and beat you up afterwards!"

"Very well then, I am glad that all of you are willing to cooperate." Moore smiled sinisterly. "I'm very, very glad."  
"Okay, Old man, I'm done!" Athena called from the doorway. She had cleaned the grime off her body and was now clothed in a pink, ruffled dress. However, her yellow goggles still remained perched on her head. "So, where were we? Hurry this up so I can get back to my work."

"Hello…?" Takeru greeted her nervously, still unsure of how to converse with her.

"Hello, Lady Athena. You…look cuter in that dress than you did in those overalls." Hayate was also unsure of how to speak to Athena, but tried his best to compliment her in hopes that it would make him look better than Takeru.

"Actually, I liked the overalls better than this dress. The overalls were more comfortable and dresses send a draft up my legs." Athena complained, walking over to her father.

"I see that you have finally dressed appropriately for the occasion. It would have been a shame for you to embarrass yourself in front of your childhood friends, who I spent so much time and effort to invite just so you could enjoy yourself." Moore stated coldly.

"Yeah, thanks, Old man. You gonna stay for the party if we have one?" Athena muttered.

"Hold on." Moore motioned for Athena to stay silent while he answered his beeping handheld communicator, a blend between cell phone, computer, and calculator. "Yes? Moore speaking. I see, I see. I'll get there immediately."

"So, what is it now?" Athena asked as Moore rose from his seat.

"I have a staff meeting coming up, so I need to return to the space colonies as soon as possible. Play well with your guests now." Moore hurried out the door before Athena could stop him.

"Good luck on that meeting, Old man!" Athena called toward Moore's retreating form.

"Your father…is a busy man." Yulian commented.

"Yeah, I don't mind. If he stays here too long, it gets awkward, because I don't know what the heterodyne he's talking about half the time, with finances and fundraisers and mergers. You know, business crap." Athena plopped herself down in a chair and set her feet on the table. "This way, I'm free to invent stuff without interruption."

"Lady Athena, it is extremely rude to use that position in front of your guests." The maid frowned slightly. "Please assume a more ladylike pose."

"Sorry, Ilena." Athena muttered, removing her feet from the table. "So, it's been six years and you've all come back. What have all of you been doing all this time?"

"Wait a moment! I remember six years back, and I don't remember you appearing during that time at all." Takeru protested. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Nothing…nothing at all. It's better that we all forget." Athena smiled somewhat wistfully. "Those old promises of the past mean nothing to anyone anymore. After all, I haven't kept to my promise to you guys either. So, you might as well as stay here, eat some cake, and then get back to what you were doing and where you were supposed to be."

"W-we were hired by your father though…" Gawain stuttered.

"Oh, don't mind him. I'll pay you more to ignore his offer." Athena shrugged. "I have a bank account, you know."

"I…suppose we should introduce ourselves first then." Takeru offered.

"No need, I know all of you." Athena stated in a deadpan manner. "You over there—the one with the big hair—you're Takeru. The guy with the buck teeth who's staring at you is Hayate. The short girl over there with the long brown hair is Callisto. The guy curled up into a shivering mass over there is Gawain. The one spacing out is Quincy. The Native American guy with the long hair that's half-covering his eyes is Kele. The girl with that mask…I think you're…Masami, now, was it? I think we're missing a white-haired guy and a blonde guy, though."

"Masami…that is a person and a name that no longer exists….Please do not be offended at me for correcting you, but please refer to me as Lucia." Lucia protested.

"Okay, so I still know all of your names, even if some of you might have gotten a name change. Now, I wonder where those two missing guys are."

"I'm right here." Yulian hissed.

"Oh, I didn't see you at first. Yulian, right?"

"At least you remember my name…" Yulian muttered.

"See? I remember all of you…except for you." Athena pointed toward the Chinese girl. "I've never seen you before, ever."  
"Never saw you neither, nope." The Chinese girl shook her head. "Just here to deliver something, yep."

"Can you finish it up quick then?" Athena sighed. "If I have to spend more time out of my lab, I'm gonna start twitching."  
"First, let introduce self, yep." The girl stated. "Am Dragon Saint, Long-Ying, from Mount Lu or Rozan in China, yep."

"Rozan?" Kele's eyes widened. "Isn't that where Chris-sempai…"

"Earned cloth by defeating rival, yep. Name was Chris, same as on invitation, yep. Couldn't come because I beat him too badly, nope. Came in his stead to wish whoever invited him happy birthday, yep." Long-Ying declared. "Now, if no bother you, will leave, yep. No want to hang around weaklings one more second, nope."

"Hold on! You said you beat your rival badly. Does that mean Chris-sempai is…?" Kele shot up from his chair. "What exactly happened?"

"Your 'Sempai' too weak, so got beating that he deserved, yep. Can't come because of injuries, nope." Long-Ying smiled haughtily. "If he dies, completely own fault, yep!"

"How dare you…." Kele hissed, clearly angry. "Chris-sempai was the one person I admired as a child! How dare you talk about him like that? Even if it was someone else…even if it was someone else…I'll never forgive you for speaking so rudely!"

"Oh, want to go to hospital that badly?" Long-Ying smirked. "Try to hit then, yep."

"Don't underestimate me!" Kele leapt at Long-Ying, intent on punching her in the face. Long-Ying simply grabbed his fist and flipped him over her shoulder.

"Boring, yep." Long-Ying stomped her foot into Kele's unprotected abdomen. "Try harder next time, yep."

"Stop!" Takeru exclaimed, grabbing Long-Ying's hand as she attempted to punch Kele. "This is going to far! Besides, he had perfectly good reasons for getting mad at you!"

"Why you protecting weakling who needs lesson, huh?" Long-Ying wheeled around to face Takeru, flipping her long, black hair over her shoulders. "You want lesson too?"

"I hate to hit girls, but you're really asking for it!" Takeru snapped.

"Same here—hate hit boys, but weakling really getting on nerves, yep." Long-Ying retorted.

"If you are going to fight, please go outside. I will not tolerate fighting within the premises, and especially not in Lady Athena's presence." Ilena stepped in front of Athena protectively.

"I'm going back to my lab anyway." Athena muttered. "Do as you like."

"Fine! Go out then! Real woman no afraid of combat no matter where it is, yep!" Long-Ying declared.

"Takeru-sempai, this is my fight, so…" Kele protested.

"Kele, sorry to say this, but you probably can't go against her right now—not while you're so emotional, at least. Instead, I'll fight for you this once." Takeru grinned, patting Kele on the shoulder. "Don't worry—I'll beat her and make her say sorry to you for all the crap that she said! You can just watch me."

"Thank you, Takeru-sempai…." Kele muttered.

"Can you beat me though, huh?" Long-Ying scoffed. "Will show how weak you are, yep!"

"Let's take this outside!" Long-Ying and Takeru stomped out to the yard, leaving the rest of the Saints to stare at them until they slammed the door shut.

"Let's go after them." Callisto suggested after a moment of awkward silence. The rest of the Saints, along with Ilena and Athena, quickly scrambled out after Takeru and Long-Ying, with Quincy quickly snatching some cake before going along with his comrades.

* * *

"Sure want to do this, huh?" Long-Ying and Takeru stood face to face, both assuming defensive positions.

"I made a promise to Kele and I'm not about to break it!" Takeru growled.

"Fine; want put on cloth first, huh?" Long-Ying pointed toward Takeru's cloth box.

"Only if you do too. I already hate hitting girls, and hitting an unarmed one while wearing a cloth really rubs me wrong." Takeru stated, reaching for his cloth box.

"Will wear cloth…but make sure not to regret making me wear, yep." Long-Ying also reached for her cloth.

"You should be regretting giving me a chance to wear my cloth!" Takeru snapped back.

Both Long-Ying and Takeru jerked on the handles of their cloth boxes at the same time. The various pieces of their cloths clasped onto their bodies as lights of the color of their respective cloths surrounded them. When the lights faded, Long-Ying stood in the teal colored dragon cloth while Takeru stood in the white Pegasus cloth.

"Is this not against the rules?" Lucia asked. "They are wearing the cloth for their selfish motives…"

"Technically, this is not a selfish fight. Dragon is fighting for her ideals, and Pegasus is fighting to defend his friend. While not the best of reasons, they cannot be called selfish ones." Yulian answered.

"Will let you have first three blows free, yep. If can't hurt me by then, will be my move, yep." Long-Ying stated.

"I'll take that offer!" Takeru charged toward Long-Ying. "Here I go!"

"How reckless…" Long-Ying smirked, easily sidestepping Takeru's first punch. "That's one move."

"Not yet." Takeru grinned. "That was just the beginning of my Pegasus Meteor Punch!"

Long-Ying calmly watched as Takeru's punches lashed out at her as speeds too fast for a regular human's eye. Without changing expression, she leapt into the air to avoid all of the blows and landed behind Takeru before he could swerve to face her.

"Still too slow, yep." Long-Ying chirped as Takeru faced her, his eyes wide in surprise.

"H-how? You dodged all my punches….They were supposed to be going at beyond Mach!" Takeru stuttered. However, his shock did not last long, as he resumed his assault with the Meteor Fist.

"That your solution to everything, huh? Just Meteor Fist it to bits, yep?" Long-Ying mocked Takeru as she continued to sidestep the blows. "No will work on powerful opponents, nope. Also, punches no really beyond Mach—only one or two punches go past sound barrier, rest below, yep."

"I don't care! This has always worked for me before!" Takeru exclaimed. "No matter how fast or strong you are, you can't dodge all the time! That's when my punches will strike you!"

"Or will they, huh?" With a swift motion, Long-Ying lifted her left arm to deflect Takeru's fist with her shield. "No matter how hard you try, cannot get through Dragon Shield, nope."

"I can try!" Takeru pulled his fists back, panting from a mixture of exhaustion and nervousness. The two successive bouts of Meteor Fists had drained a good amount of energy. Now, with Long-Ying's powerful shield, his situation looked even more hopeless.

"Dragon Shield strongest shield out of all Bronze Saints, yep. No way can break, nope." Long-Ying stated, holding up two fingers. "Now two attacks chances gone, yep. Make sure to make last one count, yep."

"That accent is really getting on my nerves!" Takeru growled, once again charging. Although his last two attacks had failed, he was sure that with his continuous attacks, he could expose and exploit Long-Ying's possible weaknesses.

"Already said impossible, yep." Long-Ying raised her shield to block. "Same attack no work twice on Saint, nope. Besides, too many wasted movements, yep." She reached out and grabbed Takeru's fist.

"H-how…?" Takeru was stunned into silence. Although he knew that Long-Ying was able to block and dodge his punches, he had not expected for her to catch his fist in the middle of his attack.

"I…I can't believe this! That girl is so…fast!" Callisto cried.

"Pegasus has no hope of winning. From the beginning, he underestimated his opponent and attacked recklessly." Yulian sighed.

"I believe in Takeru-sempai!" Kele declared. "He…he's just the sort of person who'd keep his promises, so I think he'll find some way to win!"

"This cake tas' good. Wan' some?" Quincy held up his handful of cake, still stained with the grime from Athena's fingers. When everyone backed away in disgust, he simply shrugged and took another bite. "I agree wi' the guy who jus' say that. The pony guy really don' look like he can win none."

"Tell them to slow down." Athena muttered. "I could barely see."

"Wasted all three chances, yep. My turn now." Long-Ying gripped Takeru's fist tighter as she slammed a knee into his stomach. "That one…"

"Takeru-sempai!" Kele cried as he watched Takeru reel back, spitting up blood.

"P-please stop this!" Lucia turned to Athena. "One of them is going to die if this continues!"

"Don't let them hit me!" Gawain whimpered.

"What the hell am I supposed to?" Athena snorted. "I can't even see them, so how am I supposed to step in and stop them?"

"Really weak if fall from just that, yep." Long-Ying smirked, jumping up and kicking Takeru in the face, sending him skidding into the ground. "That two…"

"Damn…" Takeru muttered, sitting up and wiping the blood away from his face. Before he could stand up, he was yanked up by his collar.

"This three…" Long-Ying's fist shot out and struck Takeru in the chest, knocking him into the air. "Not only have strongest shield, but also have strongest fist, yep. Probably no getting up from that one for long time, nope."

"Takeru-sempai, are you alright?" Lucia and Kele ran toward the prone Takeru.

"Your three attacks…were pretty weak too…" Takeru hissed, staggering to his feet. "If you think those would be able to keep me down…then you're pretty stupid!"

"Get up to take more beating, huh?" Long-Ying walked toward Takeru. "Can barely stand, yep,"

"How do you know?" Takeru staggered toward Long-Ying, wiping the blood away from his face. "I'm perfectly fine! You're the one who'll be taking a beating!"

"See how long can talk like that, yep!" Long-Ying leapt at Takeru, pounding his chest and stomach with punches. "Taste power of dragon fist, yep!"

Takeru found himself blown back by the rapid attacks. Rolling with the punches, he barely managed to flip in midair and land on his feet. Gasping for breath, he prepared to fire off another round of Meteor Fists.

"Stop it, Takeru-sempai! I said this was my fight, so please let me take over. I-it's not worth it if you get hurt like this!" Kele called.

"Shut up! I promised you that I'd fight for you…and I'm not about to lie to anyone!" Takeru punched at Long-Ying. "My Pegasus Meteor Fist isn't done just yet!"

"Why keep on attacking if can just block, huh?" Long-Ying repelled all the attacks with her shield. "No improvements, nope."

"Strongest shield and strongest fist…every time I attack, she blocks with that shield, and then she hits me with that fist. However…" Takeru's eyes widened as he realized Long-Ying's strategy. "If I take out that shield, she'll have to dodge my attacks instead of blocking, so she'd have no time to attack me. I shouldn't be wasting time attacking her body—I need to destroy that shielf!"

"Take-kun?" Callisto watched as Takeru ceased his attack. "What's he doing?"

"Dragon…your shield and fist really are powerful. But, can one last without the other?" Takeru jumped at Long-Ying, focusing his attack at her shield.

"Idiot, yep." Long Ying ducked and aimed a sweeping kick at Takeru's legs, sending him sprawling to the ground. "What? Want to smash shield with hard head, huh? This shield harder than even head, yep. Even though your head harder than anything else, yep."

"Doesn't she have a weakness?" Takeru growled, trying to pull himself up.

"Is over, yep. No have weakness that you can hit, nope." Long-Ying stepped over to Takeru and stomped on his stomach. "Will make you realize you stupid, yep."

"Take-kun, please stop! Miss Athena, you can see them now, so go up and stop it!" Callisto begged Athena.

"Mr. Takeru already lost, so please stop this, Miss Long-Ying!" Lucia called.

"Pegasus brought this upon himself." Yulian declared. "He took on a much more powerful opponent, knowing he would probably lose. I have no sympathy for idiots like that."

"You can' say tha'." Quincy protested. "He was jus' tryin' to 'elp a pal."

"I don't care…just don't let her hit me again." Gawain shivered.

"Damn! Is he down that easily?" Hayate growled. "Now people are gonna be saying that I was rivals with a weakling!"

"I-it's my fault. I'll go stop them." Kele walked forward before anyone could stop him. "Sempai, please stop this. If you want to hit anyone, hit me!"

"Will do gladly." Long-Ying smirked.

"Ilena…I-I don't feel good about this." Athena muttered. "Can you go do something, Ilena?"

"No…" Ilena stated. "I have a feeling that Mr. Takeru will stand back up…somehow."

"Takeru-sempai, I know that you want to fight for me…but this much is enough." Kele stated, turning to Long-Ying. "I'll take over for him from here on."

"Will get beat up worse than him, yep." Long-Ying replied, still stepping on Takeru.

"Don't any of you dare interfere…" Takeru growled. "And Long-Ying, you better not lay one finger on Kele!"

"How…" Long-Ying gasped.

"As if I'd lose…to a girl!" Takeru leapt up and head-butted Long-Ying on the chin, sending both of them down in a heap.

Everyone fell silent as they watched the two lie there. Quincy's mouth hung open as the cake that he was chewing on dropped to the ground. Lucia and Callisto's faces were obscured by their masks, but their shock was still evident. Yulian's expression was unchanged, but even he seemed to be surprised. Long-Ying just lay there, unmoving; shocked that Takeru had the strength to knock her down.

Takeru groaned as he lifted his head. His hand reached out to grab something to steady himself, but all he felt was a curvy metal object. As he slowly scanned the object and its surroundings with his eyes, he realized that his hand was resting on Long-Ying's chest.

"Whore!" Long-Ying shrieked, throwing Takeru off of her with a powerful punch. "Have modesty for once!"

"Sorry!" Takeru squeaked as Long-Ying pelted him with her angry punches. His body was sent spiraling into the air and landed hard on the ground, creating a crater.

"Takeru-sempai…sort of deserved that one." Kele muttered. He received a silent nod from everyone else.

"Dead yet? If no dead then kill right now, yep." Long-Ying growled, charging at Takeru, who had just begun to get up. He was pelted with another volley of punches.

"I don't think he's getting up from that one…" Hayate commented.

"Nope, will not get up." Long-Ying stomped on Takeru's head. "Will crush head and kill right here, uh-huh."

"Shut up…" Takeru growled. "In this world…there are only three types of people I hate! First—a heartless bastard who would crush a child's dream and not stop to apologize or even regret it afterwards. Second—a prideful jackass who looks down on everyone and has no mercy! Third—an annoying idiot who never knows when to shut up! Too bad you're all three!"

Long-Ying stared as Takeru jumped up and charged toward her. "Bastard? Why no stay down, huh? Will make you go down now, yep!" She began to attack Takeru again.

"Long-Ying, your enraged fists are truly fast and strong, but…" Takeru grinned as he dodged the punches. "They're all too predictable!"

"What you mean?" Long-Ying received her answer in the form of a sudden pain in her abdomen. As she looked down, she realized that the aching spot now bore a fist mark.

"Earlier, you had used one arm for defense and another for offense, However, now, in your rage, you use both for offense. After attacking with one arm, you switch to another, and during that time, neither arm is attacking! I used that interval of time to get in a punch!" Takeru exclaimed.

"Ilena, what's going on? I think it's supposed to be getting exciting, but I can't see clearly what they're doing." Athena hissed to her maid.

"Lady Athena, Saints can move at the speed of sound. It would be very hard for a regular human to see clearly at that speed. However, you are right in that this has become more exciting—now the winner has become less apparent." Ilena replied.

"You have to give Pegasus credit—he's not as stupid as he looks. Or, at least, he has some dumb luck." Yulian commented.

"Probably the latter." Hayate muttered.

"D-Don't underestimate me, nope!" Long-Ying stuttered. Despite being sure that Takeru was weaker than her, he had actually broken through her defense to hit her body. "Can still kick ass, yep!"

"Don't be so certain of that!" Takeru snapped back. "Let's see whose punch is faster!"

"Happy oblige, yep!"

Takeru and Long-Ying charged toward each other, both ready to attack. However, they were interrupted by a noise from inside the house. Seconds later, a car crashed through the wall and stopped short of hitting the two fighters.

"Who…?" Takeru and Long-Ying both stared on in shock.

"Takeru-sempai, Long-Ying-sempai, are you two alright?" Kele and Lucia asked.

"Yeah, pretty much. Didn't hit us." Takeru replied.

"Sorry…" A blue-haired man muttered, stepping out of the car. "I…made a wrong turn."

"Eldritch, how many times have I warned you to watch your driving?" Ilena snapped, standing protectively in front of Athena. "You endangered the lives of Lady Athena and her guests, not to mention caused millions of dollars in property damage!"

"I already said I was sorry…" Eldritch sighed. "Can I at least wish the little princess a happy birthday?"

"Poor car." Athena had approached the car and began to examine the damage. "That's a nasty fender bender. The two side windows are cracked. The windshield wipers are hanging by a wire. The back side door…the less said the better. And judging from the smoke being emitted from under the hood, the engine is probably shot too. Pity—this was a pretty nice model. I should know because I designed it."

"Uh…I suppose she wouldn't hear me now." Eldritch shook his head. "She was always interested in gadgets, ever since she was a baby."

"What is it with all these people coming and going?" Hayate groaned. "My brain is going to get an overload just trying to remember their names!"

"Oh, hello there. My name is Dr. Eldritch Thomas, M.D. I am Athena's personal doctor. I assume all of you are her friends?" Eldritch stated.

"Well…not exactly."

"Excuse me, miss, but could you please allow me to exit the vehicle?" A voice came from within the car. Athena stepped back to allow the speaker to step out.

"Oh yes, I picked up a hitchhiker along the way. He was also headed here, so I decided to take him along." Eldritch turned to the figure who had exited the car.

"My name is Yuu…Phoenix Yuu." The figure stated, his cloth shining in the sun. "I've come to Japan to find my little sister."


End file.
